Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Richmond International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Richmond, Virginia 23250
Saturday, March 21, 2009 21:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot stated that, upon reaching cruising altitude, he reached to pull the trim adjustment knob but inadvertently pulled the mixture control knob, which caused the engine to shutdown. The pilot immediately lowered the collective lever and entered an autorotation. He attempted to restart the engine using the throttle and the starter but did not advance the mixture control from the idle cut off position. As he flared the helicopter to land, the windscreen contacted powerlines, and then the helicopter struck an automobile on a roadway. The helicopter sustained damage to the windscreen, main rotor blades, and tailboom. The Pilot's Operating Handbook for the Robinson R-22 states that "If the mixture control is inadvertently pulled in flight, engine stoppage will result. To avoid pulling the wrong control, always reach around left side of cyclic to actuate lateral trim."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the pilot inadvertently shutting down the engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2115 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Richmond |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23250 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372430N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0772448W |
| Event Location Airport | Richmond International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RIC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 167 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1654 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 167 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25359 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 10 2009 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2360M |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA205 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2340 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 17 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 98 |
| Airframe Hours | 2952 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAUL D JACKSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 GREEN ACRES RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHASE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23924-4043 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PAUL D JACKSON |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Chase City |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RIC |
| Departure City | Richmond |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2105 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Victoria |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 10 2009 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |